Euler's flycatcher

Appearance

In appearance, it closely resembles the "Empidonax" flycatchers, and was formerly placed in that genus, but differs in anatomical and molecular characters. Euler's flycatcher is on average 12.7 centimetres long and weighs 10–11 grams. The upperparts are olive-brown with darker brown wings and two dull buff wing bars. The throat breast is grey, the breast is brown, and the abdomen is pale yellow. There is a white eyering, but no supercilium. Sexes are similar. There are other races, differing in the tone of the upperpart or underpart colour. The call is a loud hoarse "chee-chi-wi-wi-wi".

Habitat

This species is found in the lower and middle levels of forests. Euler's flycatchers are inconspicuous birds, tending to keep to undergrowth perches from which they sally forth to catch insects; they are also capable of hovering flight to pick off prey from plants, but use it far less often.

In subtropical montane forest in the south of its range, it breeds in the rainy summer months, with peak nesting activity in late October to November and extending to January–February. The open cup nest is made of grass, leaves and plant fibre and placed in a tree fork. It is usually located a few meters above ground, but may be right up in the tree's crown.

Reproduction

The typical clutch is 2–3 white eggs, which are marked with reddish brown mostly at the larger end, weigh about 1.7 grams each and measure roughly 18 by 13.5 millimetres. Only the female incubates, and she will every now and then leave the nest for various reasons. When on the nest, the male provisions her with food. At about 20–25 °C ambient temperature, the young hatch after 16–18 days, and fledge after about 15 days. They are being fed by both parents, and older nestlings have a voracious appetite. As they near fledging, one can find a parent arriving with new food every few minutes. Brood loss due to predation was found to be moderate to light in the Southern Andean Yungas.